The present invention relates to fetal weight determination generally and more particularly to fetal weight determination based on ultrasonic imaging.
The following publications describe prior art existing fetal imaging apparatus, and methods for measuring fetal weight:
xe2x80x9cSonographic Estimation of Fetal Weightxe2x80x9d, Frank P. Hadlock et al., Radiology 1984, Vol. 150, pp. 535-540; and the references cited therein;
xe2x80x9cObstetric Ultrasoundxe2x80x9d, Website: http://www.ob-ultrasound.net, references and links therefrom;
Website: http://www.shinozuka.com/US;
xe2x80x9cAmerican Institute of Ultrasound in Medicinexe2x80x9d, Website: http://www.aium.org.
Various techniques are known for fetal imaging in utero using ultrasonic technology.
Conventional systems which provide fetal imaging in utero are known inter alia from the following publications:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,591;
InViVo-ScanNT of the Fraunhofer Institut fuer Graphische Datenverarbeitung IGD in Darmstadt, Germany, commercially available;
3-D Ultrasoundxe2x80x94Acquisition Methods Details, of Life Imaging Systems, Inc. of London, Ontario
UCSD radiologists are working on a new ultrasound technology that""s guaranteed to produce much clearer images in three dimensions, by Kate Deely, UCSD Perspectives, Spring 1999;
Product literature relating to the following products:
Imaging software available from A1 Alpha Space, Inc, of Laguna Hills, Calif., U.S.A. and from Echotech 3-D of Hallbergmoos, Germany;
HDI1500 commercially available from ATLxe2x80x94Advanced Technology Laboratories, Bothell, Wash., U.S.A.;
Voluson 530D commercially available from Kretztechnik AG of Zipf, Austria and from Medison America of Pleasanton, Calif., U.S.A. This ultrasound system includes a scalpel feature which enables manual removal of occlusions blocking full visualization of a fetal face.
L3-Di commercially available from Life Imaging Systems Inc. of London, Ontario, Canada;
Echo-Scan, Echo-View and Compact3-D commercially available from TomTec Imaging Systems GmbH of Unterschleissheim, Germany;
NetralVUS, commercially available from ScImage, Inc. of Los Altos, Calif. 94022, U.S.A.;
3-Scape commercially available from Siemens AG of Erlangen, Germany;
Vitrea, commercially available from Vital Images, Inc of Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.A.;
VoxarLib, commercially available from Voxar Ltd. of Edinburgh, UK;
LOGIC 700 MR commercially available from GE Ultrasound.
The present invention seeks to provide an improved system for fetal weight determination in utero.
There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention apparatus for measuring the weight of a fetus in utero including an ultrasonic imager providing at least one ultrasonic image, a volume determiner operative to employ at least one ultrasonic image to provide volume information relating to at least part of the volume of the fetus in utero, and a weight determiner operative to employ the volume information relating to at least part of the volume of the fetus and density information relating to at least part of the volume of the fetus for providing an output indication representing the weight of the fetus in utero.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the at least one of the volume determiner and the weight determiner is operative to construct a generally full fetal body volume from incomplete volume information based on known correlation information.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the volume determiner includes computerized image processing based segmenter operative to employ the at least one ultrasonic image to provide size information relating to at least part of the fetus in utero.
Preferably the volume determiner includes a computerized edge detection based segmenter.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the at least one of the imager and the volume determiner operates on a slice-by-slice basis.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the volume determiner also includes a measurement tool which provides information relating to at least one of overall fetal volume, volumes of body parts of the fetus, areas of various cross sections of the fetus and sizes of various bones and body parts of the fetus.
Preferably the weight determiner includes a fetal weight calculator receiving inputs relating to at least one of measurement data derived from measurements of a multiplicity of other fetuses, correlations between the measurement data and birth weights, and data from earlier measurements of the same fetus.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the measurement tool is operative to measure features of the fetus in at least one selected plane.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the volume determiner includes computerized image processing based segmenter operative to employ the at least one ultrasonic image to provide size information relating to at least part of the fetus in utero.
Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a fetal weight calculator receiving inputs relating to at least one of measurement data derived from measurements of a multiplicity of other fetuses, correlations between the measurement data and birth weights, and data from earlier measurements of the same fetus.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention apparatus including an ultrasonic imager providing at least one ultrasonic image, a computerized image processing based segmenter operative to employ the at least one ultrasonic image to provide size information relating to at least part of the fetus in utero, and a weight determiner operative to employ said size information for providing an output indication representing the weight of said fetus in utero.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention at least one of the volume determiner and the weight determiner is operative to construct a generally full fetal body volume from incomplete volume information based on known correlation information.
Preferably the volume determiner includes a computerized edge detection based segmenter.
Additionally or alternatively at least one of the imager and the volume determiner operates on a slice-by-slice basis.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the volume determiner also includes a measurement tool which provides information relating to at least one of overall fetal volume, volumes of body parts of the fetus, areas of various cross sections of the fetus and sizes of various bones and body parts of the fetus.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the weight determiner includes a fetal weight calculator receiving inputs relating to at least one of measurement data derived from measurements of a multiplicity of other fetuses, correlations between the measurement data and birth weights, and data from earlier measurements of said same fetus.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the measurement tool is operative to measure features of the fetus in at least one selected plane.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the at least one of the volume determiner and the weight determiner is operative to construct a generally full fetal body volume from incomplete volume information based on known correlation information.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention at least one of the imager and the volume determiner operates on a slice-by-slice basis.
Preferably the segmenter is fully automatic. Alternatively segmenter is semi-automatic.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the segmenter operates substantially in real time.
Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the segmenter defines geometrical boundaries in at least one slice of the volume by employing previously acquired information relating to at least another slice of the volume. Preferably the segmenter defines geometrical boundaries in at least one slice of the volume by employing previously acquired information relating to at least another slice of the volume.
Additionally the segmenter operates in a slice-by-slice manner.
There is provided in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for measuring the weight of a fetus in utero, the method includes providing at least one ultrasonic image, employing the at least one ultrasonic image to provide volume information relating to at least part of the volume of the fetus in utero, and employing the volume information relating to at least part of the volume of the fetus and density information relating to the at least part of the volume of the fetus for providing an output indication representing the weight of the fetus in utero.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the method includes constructing a generally full fetal body volume from incomplete volume information based on known correlation information.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the volume determiner comprises computerized image processing based segmenter operative to employ the at least one ultrasonic image to provide size information relating to at least part of the fetus in utero.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the step of employing the volume information comprises computerized edge detection.
Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention and also including utilizing information relating to at least one of overall fetal volume, volumes of body parts of the fetus, areas of various cross sections of the fetus and sizes of various bones and body parts of the fetus.
Preferably the method also includes utilizing inputs relating to at least one of measurement data derived from measurements of a multiplicity of other fetuses, correlations between the measurement data and birth weights, and data from earlier measurements of the same fetus.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention including measurement of features of the fetus in at least one selected plane.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention including computerized image processing based segmentation which employs the at least one ultrasonic image to provide size information relating to at least part of the fetus in utero.
Preferably the method utilizes inputs relating to at least one of measurement data derived from measurements of a multiplicity of other fetuses, correlations between the measurement data and birth weights, and data from earlier measurements of the same fetus.
There is also provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for measuring the weight of a fetus in utero including the steps of providing at least one ultrasonic image, one ultrasonic image in computerized image processing based segmentation to provide size information relating to at least part of the fetus in utero, and employing the size information for providing an output indication representing the weight of the fetus in utero.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method includes constructing a generally full fetal body volume from incomplete volume information based on known correlation information.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention including computerized edge detection segmentation.
Preferably the segmentation operates on a slice-by-slice basis.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method includes providing information relating to at least one of overall fetal volume, volumes of body parts of the fetus, areas of various cross sections of the fetus and sizes of various bones and body parts of the fetus.
Preferably the method includes utilizing at least one of measurement data derived from measurements of a multiplicity of other fetuses, correlations between the measurement data and birth weights, and data from earlier measurements of the same fetus.
Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method includes measuring features of the fetus in at least one selected plane.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizing inputs relating to at least one of measurement data derived from measurements of a multiplicity of other fetuses, correlations between said measurement data and birth weights, and data from earlier measurements of the same fetus.
Additionally constructing a generally full fetal body volume from incomplete volume information based on known correlation information.
Preferably the imager employs ultrasound.
Preferably the segmentation operates fully automatically. Alternatively the segmentation operates semi-automatically.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the segmentation operates substantially in real time.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the segmentation defines geometrical boundaries in at least one slice of the volume by employing previously acquired information relating to at least another slice of the volume.
Preferably the segmentation operates in a slice-by-slice manner.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the volume determiner and/or the weight determiner are operative to determine fetal weight from volumes and densities of various body components, such as bones, fat, muscle, skin, soft tissue and fluid.